1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a composite fabric suitable for use in garments that provide protection against contact with hazardous substances. More particularly, the invention concerns such a fabric and garments made therefrom that include at least two different film layers and a textile fabric, one film being of polyvinyl or polyvinylidene fluoride and the second film being of polyvinyl alcohol.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Workers in many industries need protection from hazardous substances. Some such protection is often in the form of a disposable, or limited use, outer garment which prevents worker's clothing or skin from contacting the hazardous material. Chemical plant workers, asbestos removers, radioactive-contamination cleaners, chemical-waste disposal workers, and farmers handling various agricultural chemicals and pesticides are among the many users of such protective garments. Such garments need to be as impervious to chemicals as is consistent with safety, comfort and cost. Many of the disposable garments now available commercially provide only short-term protection. Chemicals can pass through such garments in but a few minutes, after which the wearer must immediately leave the work area, remove the contaminated clothing, and bathe. Such short-term protection results in lost production time and, more importantly, in exposure of the worker to the hazardous substances.
Goldstein, U.S. Pat. No. 4,272,851, discloses protective garments made of spunbonded, polyethylene nonwoven sheet (e.g., "Tyvek", sold by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company) which may be coated or laminated on one side with a polyethylene film. Du Pont brochure, E-32814, entitled "For Hazardous or Dirty Jobs...Protect Your Workers with Garments of "TYVEK" Spunbonded Olefin" discloses garments made from the spunbonded olefin nonwoven sheets laminated with coextruded, multilayered thermoplastic film (e.g., "Saranex", sold by Dow Chemical Company) along with the permeation characteristics of these laminated sheets. "Saranex" is a three-layered laminate of "Saran" vinyl chloride/vinylidene chloride copolymer film, sandwiched between two layers of polyethylene.
Research Disclosure, 12410 (Aug. 1974), discloses protective garments of spunlaced aramid fiber (e.g., "Nomex", sold by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company).
Though not related to fabrics for protective garments, Dehennau, U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,694, and Decroly and Dehennau, U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,625, disclose films of polyvinyl fluoride or polyvinylidene fluoride bonded to another polymer. Kuga et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,654, discloses polyvinyl alcohol films coated with copolymer compositions. Bolt, U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,946, discloses a film of polyvinyl alcohol laminated to a substrate, such as a fluorocarbon material, which is then treated with iodine to form a polarizing sheet.
The known protective garments have enjoyed some commercial success. However, fabrics are needed that would provide the protective garments with longer times before hazardous substances could permeate or pass through the fabric; an increase in the so-called "hold-out time" of the hazardous substances by the fabric would enhance the utility of protective garments made therefrom. Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide such an improved fabric for use in protective garments.